Euro RSCG Worldwide PR Launches Account-Management and Social Media Initiatives

NEW YORK, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Marian Salzman, president of Euro RSCG Worldwide PR, North America, today announced the launch of two new agency initiatives: the Center for Account Management Excellence and SoMe Central, a branded think tank to track social media trends for public relations professionals.

The Center for Account Management Excellence will be headed up by Senior Vice President Ann Hemingway, while SoMe Central will be led by Senior Vice President Ana Cano. The agency's brand-new executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Stacy Mackler, recognized industrywide for her successes in joining digital and traditional marketing approaches, will oversee both initiatives.

"SoMe Central and the Center for Account Management Excellence are part of Euro RSCG PR's cohesive effort to stay a step ahead of trends," said Salzman. "On the consumer marketing end, we've seen a huge turn toward social media. At the same time, clients still need and deserve the best traditional account care. These initiatives will help Euro RSCG PR generate new solutions to both needs, for our own agency and for the PR industry."

The initiatives are the next step in a broader push by the agency to develop in-house thinking campaigns that generate ideas and innovate approaches. Last month, Euro RSCG PR launched The Sisterhood, a marketing initiative to connect marketers and brands with teens (for more information, see forsistersbysisters.com). And SoMe Central builds on a survey and white paper undertaken last fall by the agency to gauge how people use the ever-changing options in social and online media available today. (A blog, eurorscgsocial.com, continues to engage various business-related discussions on the topic.)

Hemingway has earned her expertise on the topic of account management excellence after working over the past 12 years with sanofi-aventis, Roche, AstraZeneca, the American Gastroenterological Association, Visual AIDS and other clients. She has also managed relationships with such blue-chip clients as IBM and Sears.

Cano is one of the agency's lead social media strategists. Over her career, she has been responsible for developing and executing digital and corporate strategies for Sears, ServiceLive.com, ManageMyHome and Dun & Bradstreet, among others. Her digital marketing experience has included providing counsel to Yahoo!, id Software, Ensemble Studios, Sony, Dell, Nortel Networks and Microsoft South Central Region.

Under Salzman's leadership since she arrived last August, Euro RSCG Worldwide PR has been operating with a new agency model, including this reorientation toward farsighted thought leadership. The rebooted and reinvisioned Euro RSCG PR has also added many clients in recent months, including Yele Haiti and Purina. Three new hires are designed to help continue the momentum.

Janene Ferrara, senior vice president on health-care-related accounts, was most recently senior vice president in the health-care practice at Marina Maher Communications. Her clients have included Millennium, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Salix, Qmed and VisionCare. From 2002 to 2005, Ferrara worked as a media specialist with Chandler Chicco Agency and before that held media relations and account management roles at Cohn & Wolfe, Vorhaus & Co. and the National Archives and Records Administration.

The new senior vice president and chief of staff is Beth Kitzinger. She has 17 years of marketing and communications experience, developing strategies for internal and external audiences at agencies such as the Business Within, Patrice Tanaka & Co., and M. Booth and Associates. At Euro RSCG PR, Kitzinger manages corporate communications initiatives for clients and progresses agency structure and staff. Her list of past clients includes Mercedes-Benz, the Container Store, Tiffany & Co., Wyndham, Leapfrog, Krups, Charles Schwab & Co., eBay, Lever Brothers, Bristol-Myers Squibb, DDF and Mars.

Susan Carey, the new vice president of finance, began her career in the Euro RSCG network as an intern at Comart-KLP (a sales promotion agency) and within several years was promoted to controller of Euro RSCG NA. She has held various senior finance roles at Honeywell's Security Group, Adecco Worldwide and Weber Shandwick Worldwide. Carey is returning to Euro RSCG PR from overseeing finance and administrative operations for Medicus LifeBrands at Publicis Healthcare Group.

About Euro RSCG Worldwide PR

Euro RSCG Worldwide PR is the public relations arm of Euro RSCG Worldwide, a leading integrated marketing communications agency with 233 offices in 75 countries. Euro RSCG Worldwide PR, North America, is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Chicago and Pittsburgh. It is part of  Adweek's first-ever Healthcare Agency of the Year (2010) and Medical Marketing & Media's 2010 All-Star Network of the Year. The agency provides communications services, social brand momentum and thought leadership, among other services, in core areas ranging from CSR and health care to content creation and social media. Clients include Bayer Corp., Purina, sanofi-aventis, Sears and Kmart, Toyota Motorsports, Transitions Optical and Yele Haiti. Euro RSCG Worldwide is the largest unit of Havas, a world leader in communications (Euronext: HAV.PA) (Paris: HAV.PA).

SOURCE Euro RSCG Worldwide PR